


Dead Sea

by Whizbang



Series: my old fics [3]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon Era, Canonical Character Death, Episode: s05e13 The Diamond of the Day, M/M, Post Season 5, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-22
Updated: 2014-03-22
Packaged: 2018-01-16 14:04:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1350100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whizbang/pseuds/Whizbang
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Dead Sea,<br/>You told me I was like the Dead Sea,<br/>I never sink when you are with me.<br/>Oh, Lord, I’m your Dead Sea..."<br/>-The Dead Sea by the Lumineers</p><p>*Plot synopsis: Merlin waits by the water for Arthur to come out to see him again. Arthur doesn't. Arthur's pov, mostly. </p><p> </p><p>Thanks to justanothernerdgirl for this prompt, and for being the best king to my warlock I could have asked for. Sorry I'm not as much of a lionheart as i want to be, and you deserve, but I'm just happy to know you at all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dead Sea

**Author's Note:**

  * For [justanothernerdgirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/justanothernerdgirl/gifts).



 

         "I was born to save you, so don't forget about me. Don't forget, that I made you a promise, Arthur. I made you a promise, please. _Please."_

   Light, croaky whispers waft around the air surrounding Merlin, floating him in thought bubbles, and attaching him to the shore of the lake. At the same time, the words he speaks were meant for someone far deeper; someone standing upright, statuesque, like a sunken treasure. Someone in a faded red cape, rusty chainmail, and worn boots. His blond hair spins in hydrated waves, and he listens, with closed eyes. Someone with feet engulfed in a sandy, ancient floor, and preserved in a water casket is hearing absolutely everything. Meanwhile, Merlin's words keep him tangible, yet with every sentence, he can feel himself fading away.

         "You have to come back."

   The water drifts through Merlin's broken body. It touches Merlin's pruned fingers, delicately, his hands holding on to anything he can feel that's left of Arthur Pendragon, and his wading body. Merlin lays his head back down on his arms, stretched out over his bent legs. His back arches in grief, and he calmly sighs into his knobby knees. Arthur's face is stone. His heart has been broken many times, yet his body is solid where he stands. 

   Arthur has imagined stepping out of the water many times over. He tries to reattach all of the nerves to his one foot, move it along,  get it started on the path to dry land, but he is just a soul filling an inanimate object. He wonders if his body is really dead after all, and he is trapped inside of it, or if it's waiting for something to happen.

 

          "I'm starting not to remember what you look like, anymore." Merlin's voice shakes inside of himself. His voice shakes Arthur, too. 

          "It's been so long, I've never moved. But," Merlin's voice cracks down the center, he yells, cutting through the H2O barriers, striking Arthur's core, "it's been so long, I don't know what to do."

          "Without you, nothing matters. For heaven's sakes, I can't even remember what your face looks like! It feels like I've already lost you!"

   Arthur had never felt so empty, so lifeless in a moment before. Not when he had died, since he was being held and loved, _cherished_ , and not when he watched his kingdom fall around him. For Arthur, there was always something left for him. Merlin was his connection, his _lifeboat_ , but now, he was losing that, too. He had trusted his life to this one, small boy, growing up every day and providing so much room for weaknesses in Arthur, so much security and faith. He had lived for Merlin, become a stone at the bottom of Avalon, all of this time, for Merlin to call back, and now, their bond was finally snapping. The lake water cools, and Arthur's brows flex mentally. He cries for himself, invisibly. The murky water hides it all. Merlin stares out onto the water's surface until the sunset makes it pitch black.

   A silent hour drags on, and Merlin rests in the shallow tide. His expression, visibly numb, begins to flex. He yawns in the darkness, and stars begin to fall from their spots in the moonlit canopy above the lake. He doesn't notice them, streaming down as flaming arrows at a funeral.

   Arthur swallows back tears, and the moist, dark space around him begins to shake with energy. 

   The water turns golden. Merlin's eyes light up like the inside of glass bulbs, turning on in the night time air. The water is illuminated, molten yellow, and glistening. 

 

 

            "I don't want to be anywhere else, for a thousand more years. Until I forget your name, I won't go away," Merlin whispers to him and grips his forehead.

   Arthur puts his hand over his mouth, muffling his dry moan, while his physical body remains still in dead dreams and passing moments. The golden water touches his hair, his mouth, and his throat. For a minute, he can feel the warmth of magic surrounding his submerged lungs. 

He feels awake, and Merlin is close to him. He reaches out, noticing that his arm moves, _it moves this time for him._ He is overcome by a large, humble smile. He can feel his feelings touch the surface, warmly, and his fingers meet Merlin's. Merlin's hoarse scream is muffled by the water. 

 

           "I'm so sorry," Arthur breathes, but his body doesn't speak the words for him. 

           "I'm so, so sorry," Arthur's voice shakes, and he tries to touch Merlin more, but his hand slips. He loses track of his feet in the water, and becomes dead weight. Arthur sinks. Merlin reaches for him, but he's too far gone now. 

 

_I'm sorry._

 

_Thank you for waiting._

 


End file.
